Viola Davis

Viola Davis is an American actress and producer who has achieved the rare distinction of winning the Triple Crown of Acting — an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. Born on a former plantation in St. Matthews, South Carolina, and raised in Central Falls, Rhode Island, Davis grew up in poverty and has spoken openly about the hardships of her childhood, including hunger, racism, and difficult living conditions. She channeled these experiences into her art, attending Rhode Island College and then earning a Master of Fine Arts from the Juilliard School in 1993.

Davis spent years building her career through theater, earning deep respect in the New York stage world before Hollywood took notice. She won her first Tony Award for her role in the 2001 Broadway production of “King Hedley II” and her second for the 2010 revival of “Fences” by August Wilson. Her film career gained momentum with powerful supporting roles in “Doubt” (2008), which earned her first Academy Award nomination, and “The Help” (2011), which earned her second nomination and made her a household name.

The defining period of Davis’s career came with the ABC drama series “How to Get Away with Murder” (2014-2020), created by Shonda Rhimes. She starred as the complex, morally ambiguous defense attorney Annalise Keating and made history by becoming the first Black woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She reportedly earned $250,000 per episode on the show, which ran for six seasons and significantly boosted her wealth and mainstream recognition.

Davis won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for reprising her stage role in the film adaptation of “Fences” (2016), directed by and starring Denzel Washington, completing her EGOT journey (she later won a Grammy). She starred as Michelle Obama in the Showtime series “The First Lady” (2022), led the action epic “The Woman King” (2022) to critical and commercial success, and starred as the villain Nanisca in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” (2023). Through her production company JuVee Productions, co-founded with her husband Julius Tennon, she has produced numerous projects focused on diverse storytelling.